The Ramsey Farmer's Market - located at the parking lot adjacent to the Ramsey Train Station at Erie Plaza off Main Street - is an ideal shopping spot, whether your goals are healthy eating, lowering your carbon footprint or getting the best value for your food dollar.

The Market runs every Sunday from 9am to 2pm, rain or shine, from June 12 through November 20th. Besides great shopping, there are also live musical performances every week! A non-profit special guest is also scheduled for every Sunday, bringing information in their particular field.

Farmer's Markets are an excellent way to support your community; local farmers and vendors display their wares, giving you the opportunity to sample items you may not even have known existed! These community gems expand your horizons - perhaps buy a new vegetable and experiment with recipes. Or discover a local business new to you.

The idea of sustainable practices is one gaining popularity again. An outgrowth of both the organic food movement and "green" living, sustainable practices focus on things like reversing topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination and building up family farms so they can remain in business. A Farmer's Market like Ramsey's is so important in promoting sustainable practices in the Garden State. It gives family farms the chance to promote their harvests to a new crop of customers and alert consumers to the health benefits and great taste of locally grown produce.

Organic or "clean" eating is also growing in popularity and Ramsey Farmer's Market can make that much easier to take from theory to practice. Much of the produce you will find at a Farmer's Market is organically grown and the prices comparable or lower than supermarkets. You can also have the opportunity to ask the farm staff for particulars, a luxury you will never have in the produce department! And there's definitely less waste - no cumbersome plastic wrap or bags you don't need. Bring your own recyclable bags to assist in the Ramsey Farmer's Market quest to be as green as possible.

So take your shopping list to the Ramsey Farmer's Market - or better yet, throw it away and let yourself be enticed into buying something new! Local, fresh, sustainable practices, organic, interesting - a trip to the Ramsey's Farmer's Market has it all.